Heavenly Baby Names From the Greek Gods

Are you considering a wonderful name for that new little baby boy or baby girl? If so, then let us look at some heavenly baby names from the Greek Gods.
These beautiful baby names and their meanings would be a treasured gift for a beloved child.
Here are a few of these best baby names.
Baby Girl Names and Their Meanings
Ariadne - (Greek) meaning "Very Pure." Ariadne, daughter of the sun god, was the goddess of spring. Legend has it that Ariadne helped save the life of Theseus, King of Athens. She unwound a ball of string to show him the way out of the Minotaur's labyrinth and reach safety. Ariadne is also known as "Ariana," or "Arianna."
Daphne - (Greek) meaning "Laurel Tree." In legend, Daphne was a maiden who, while fleeing Apollo's advances, turned into a laurel tree. Apollo was so saddened by this that he made a laurel wreath from her branches and wore it on his head as his symbol. The laurel wreath remains a symbol of the highest honor bestowed on man.
Helen - (Greek from the name of the Greek sun god, "Helios") meaning "Light." According to legend, Helen was so beautiful that word of her beauty spread from land to land. Finally, Paris, son of the King of Troy, abducted Helen and this act started the Trojan War.
Penelope - (Greek) meaning "The Weaver." Penelope has come to mean "One Who is Faithful." Legend has it that while Ulysses, her husband, travelled, she kept suitors away by vowing to first finish her weaving. However, every night, she undid the woven piece and started anew in the morning. This beautiful name remained mildly popular until mid 20th Century. Today, it is rather rare.
Doris - (Greek) meaning "Of the Sea." In mythology, Doris was a sea goddess. She was also mother of the sea nymphs, or "nereids," and had great influence on the gods and goddesses. In the late 19th Century, "Doris" burst upon the scene with great popularity. The name remained high on the charts throughout the 20th Century.
Baby Boy Names and Their Meanings
Damon -(Greek) meaning "One Who Tames." However, over the years, "Damon" has come to mean "Loyal Friend." This last designation is due to the amazing tale of Damon and Pythias, who were the best of friends. As the story goes, Damon offered his own life to save that of Pythias. Damon is also known as "Damian."
Jason - (Greek) meaning "The Healer." This great hero of Greek mythology set out on his quest for the Golden Fleece. The King of Colchis had placed this Golden Fleece in a grove that was guarded by a dragon. But the brave Jason with his warriors, the agronauts, set sail and captured the Golden Fleece.
Orion - (Greek) meaning "Light." According to legend, Orion was a handsome young hunter. When he was killed, the goddess who loved him placed him in the sky among the stars. As a constellation, he is pictured on charts as a hunter with a belt and a sword.
Hector - (Greek) meaning "Holding Fast." Legend tells us that Hector was an outstanding hero of the Trojan War. In the midst of frenzied fighting, Hector was slain by Achilles. Hector was a beloved figure and was greatly mourned. He remains an enduring hero.
Hercules - (Greek) meaning "Glory of Hera." This fabled Greek hero was known for his amazing strength. Hera, Queen of the Gods, forced Hercules to perform 12 seemingly impossible feats of strength. With steely determination, Hercules perform them all.
Perhaps these heavenly baby names from the Greek Gods will help you choose your own beautiful baby name.

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Reminders of Ancient Greek Gods and Goddesses Are All Around Us

Our formal knowledge of the ancient Greek gods and goddesses can be traced back to the writings of the famous poet Homer in the Iliad and the Odyssey who lived in Greece around 800 BC. Although they seem to be things of the past, reminders of them are all around us. Some planets were named after the them. They also represent a unique view of religion held by ancient Greeks.
There are many ancient Greek gods and goddesses in Greek mythology and each had their own task and own immortal lives to tell about. They are composed of many deities, minor and major. There are literally hundreds of minor gods.
The most powerful Greek gods were known as the Olympians. There were twelve major ancient gods, called by the Greeks the Olympian gods, which came to be recognized as the most important deities, and were thence worshiped by the Romans prior to Christian conversion. Six of them were the offspring of the titan siblings, Chronos and Rhea, but only four of them ruled in Olympus. Zeus, the supreme ruler of Olympus and the leader of the ancient Greek gods, controls the weather, especially fierce weather, when he hurls lightning bolts from the sky. As his father had predicted, Zeus overthrew him and the other Titans, rescued his swallowed brothers and sisters, and became the ruler of the Olympians, the new Greek Gods to rule the earth. Zeus became ruler of the Olympians and their home was Mount Olympus in northern Greece, the throne of Zeus and their home.
To unite conflicting theologies, the ones representing the weather would be married to the town's mother goddess, which promoted harmony in worship and caused less resistance among the conquered townspeople. Hephaestus was blacksmith for them and sibling to Ares. Greeks honored all the ancient Greek gods, but could worship one more than the others mostly by personal choice. The greatest of the them lived and ruled from a beautiful palace high on Mount Olympus. Aphrodite, the ancient Greek goddess of Love. Amor vincit omnia (Love Conquers All), a depiction of the god of love, Eros. Regardless of their underlying forms, the ancient Greek gods have many fantastic abilities, most significantly, the gods are not affected by disease, and can be wounded only under highly unusual circumstances. The Greek gods resembled human beings in their form and in their emotions, and they lived in a society that resembled human society in its levels of authority and power. The island of Rhodes or Rhodos as it is pronounced in Greek, was initially inhabited during the Neolithic age, apart from legends involving the gods. Helios then scattered his sun rays all over the island and its beauty caused the envy of the other Greek gods.
The ancient Greek gods normally took on human form and lived in a society similar to human society. The most significant difference between them and humans was that the gods were immortal and human beings were not.
The Greek Pantheon was a polytheistic system of thought and religion that assumed its Greek Gods and Goddesses existed independently and individually. Compared to one-deity gods in many modern religions, they had a surprising number of human limitations and weaknesses.

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Greek Gods - Artemis and Apollo

Zeus and the goddess Leto, daughter of Titans Coeus and Phoebe, bore two children who would rise up to take a place in the Olympic pantheon. The twins were named Apollo and Artemis, and their arrival in the world was not so simple.
Hera, wife of Zeus, was insanely jealous of Leto and sought to prevent the birth of Leto's two children. She antagonized Leto and sent a serpent to terrorize the goddess and stop her from finding a place to bear her children. It was the goddess Asteria who offered refuge to her sister on the island of Ortygia and there that Leto bore Artemis and Apollo.
Artermis was born first and immediately set about assisting her mother through the nine days of labor she endured to deliver her son Apollo. Leto's aunt, Themis, acted as caretaker to the twins, feeding them ambrosia and nectar, the food of the gods.
Apollo and Artemis loved their mother deeply and protected the safety and honor of their mother. On tale of Greek mythology tells how Artemis and Apollo prevented Leto from being raped by Titus in the grove of Delphi. Called by their mother, they attached the giant Titus with their arrows which rained down upon him and killed him in an instant. Zeus was outraged by Titus' actions and consigned him to Hades.
Another myth tells the story of how Artemis and Apollo killed all of the goddess Niobe's children when she boasted of her own children's superior beauty, insulting Leto. Though it's unclear if this was a defense of their mother or motivated by their own outrage.
At a young age, Artemis was told by Zeus to name the gifts that she desired. Artemis chose a bow and arrow, free reign of the mountains, a city to dwell in and eternal virginity. Zeus granted all these wishes. Artemis would come to be viewed as the virgin goddess of the hunt and wildlife. She was also seen as a protector figure of women in childbirth.
Apollo would become the god of archery, healing, music and youth. Greek mythology tells how Apollo took up the bow created for him by Hephaestus and pursued the serpent into Delphi where he killed it. Gaia was incensed at having her shrine, where the Oracle of Delphi resided, desecrated. Apollo was not punished for his crime and in time became the god of Prophecy, and the Oracle of Delphi became the Oracle of Apollo.
He would also become an influential god of music whose musicianship was unparalleled. Many challenged Apollo to contests of musical prowess, but all failed to best the god.
Apollo never married though he was definitely not an immortal virgin. He fathered more than a dozen children with many women both goddesses and mortals alike.
The twin god and goddess, Apollo and Artemis, were forever connected in Greek mythology. They are both expert archers and hunters who often enjoyed hunting together. They shared the capability of subjecting mortals to plague and pestilence as well.

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Delphic Oracle - Greek Gods

During the peak period of Greek colonization (late 8th-7th century B.C.), Greek cities that had resolved to establish a colony to some distant land first consulted the oracle as to where they should go and who should become the oikistes, the leader and founder of the future colony. Syracuse, Kroton, Kyrene, Thasos are among the better-known of many colonies that owed their very existence to the wise counsel of Phoibos. Several other colonies chose to name themselves after the god: Apollonia.
All these cities honored Apollo with the surname of Archegetes, meaning first leader. Thus the prestige and fame of the god and his oracle spread East and West, far beyond the bounds of metropolitan Greece. As early as the 7th century B.C., Midas, the legendary king of Phrygia, sent his own royal throne to the Pythian Apollo as a token of his veneration. At about the same time, another legendary king, Gyges (675 B.C.), founder of the Mermnad dynasty and ancestor of Croesus, dedicated magnificent votive offerings of pure gold to the Delphic god. Kypselos, the renowned wealthy tyrant of Corinth, built in the Delphic sanctuary the first "treasury", i.e. a small building in the shape of a temple, which had the double function of serving as a votive offering and sheltering the smaller, precious offerings dedicated by each city to the sanctuary.
The glory, power and wealth of the Delphic oracle grew steadily. However, it appears that the Phokians of Krisa decided to exploit their position as neighbours to Delphi, and levied heavy dues on the faithful who disembarked at the port of Kirrha, in Phokian territory, on their way to the oracle. Delphi then appealed to the Amphiktyony for help and the First Sacred War was declared. It was to last ten years, ending in 591 B.C. with the annihilation of the Krisaians. Kirrha and Krisa were destroyed and their territory was dedicated to the Delphic deities.
The Amphiktyons then proceeded to reorganize the Pythian festival, which took place every 8 years to commemorate Apollo's return from his voluntary exile after the slaying of Python. From 582 B.C. this festival was celebrated every four years; gymnastic and equestrian contests were added to the earlier musical competition.
The sanctuary's fame spread across the world, and the offerings it received were beyond anything the boldest imagination might conceive. Croesus, the king of Lydia, famous for his wealth, sent all kinds of offerings, the most sumptuous being a lion of solid gold weighing about 250 kgs., set upon a pyramid made of 117 bricks of "white gold" (a mixture of gold and silver); in addition to that, two large kraters, one gold and the other silver, which were placed to the right and left of the temple entrance. When Apollo's poros temple was destroyed by fire in 548 B.C., not only the Greeks, but foreign sovereigns, such as Croesus of Lydia and Amasis of Egypt, made generous donations for the construction of a new temple, which cost 300 talents, the equivalent of several billions of present-day drachmae. The Alkmeonidai, the noble Athenian family exiled by Peisistratos and his sons, undertook the construction project; in excess of what was stipulated in the contract, they used marble for the facade instead of poros.
During the critical years of the Persian Wars, the oracle was considerably shaken by the power of the invaders; its prophecies and advice did not reflect that high moral character so representative of the Greeks who fought "in defense of all". The sanctuary itself escaped Persian plundering through the God's miraculous intervention: enormous rocks rolled down the cliffs of the Phaidriades and caused the enemy to disperse in panic. The oracle may have shown a slight weakening in the moment of crisis, but the faith of the Greeks in Phoibos remained steadfast; with the ever-burning flame of the temple they rekindled the desecrated altars of the sanctuaries and sent him magnificent votive offerings, among which the famous gold tripod, set upon a bronze pedestal 6 metres high, consisting of three intertwined snakes, engraved with the names of the 31 cities that fought against the Persians in Plataia.
About the middle of the 5th century B.C., the Phokians once again gained political power over Delphi; this led to the declaration of the Second Sacred War (447 B.C.), to restore the sanctuary's independence. In 373 B.C., a terrible earthquake uprooted huge pieces of rock and flung them on the temple of Apollo. Reconstruction started immediately, thanks to pan-Hellenic contributions, but it was interrupted in 356 B.C. by a Third Sacred War. The Phokians occupied the sanctuary for a period of ten years and confiscated not only sanctuary funds, but also a large number of valuable votive offerings. The Greeks felt highly indignant at this sacrilege.
Following the intervention of Philip, king of Macedonia, the Phokians were routed, excluded from the Amphyktyony and obliged to pay a colossal indemnity (420 talents). Finally, the Fourth Sacred War broke out in 339 B.C., against the Lokrians this time. Once again, Philip assumed leadership; after defeating the Lokrians, he proceeded to Chaironeia, where he fought the famous battle (338 B.C.), which made him master of Greece.

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The Forgotten Greek Gods

Mention Greek gods and people immediately think of Zeus and the like. Before these well-known gods came on the scene, however, there were another group of Gods.
There were many figures featured in the Greek mythological world, from gods and goddesses to mythical fantasy creatures. While the gods and goddesses themselves often got the most attention, it was the mythical characters that really made the stories work. Without the interaction of the god figures, mortals and these creatures, the stories told would not have been fully fleshed. One of these groups of characters was the Titans, and their story is an interesting one.
The Titans were a race of gods and goddesses that ruled Greece during the Golden Age. There were originally twelve Titans, with a thirteenth Titan coming into play after a literary appearance in the Bibliotheke. The mother and father of the Titans were Uranus and Gaia, and Uranus was overthrown by his son Cronus, who was the youngest of the group. Additionally, the Titans gave birth to more Titans, including Prometheus, Epimetheus, Atlas and Menoetius; these were the sons of Iapetus.
The Titans preceded the twelve gods of Mount Olympus, who were headed by Zeus and battled them in the Titanomachy (War of the Titans). The Titans lost this war, and were imprisoned by the Olympic gods in Tartarus, the lowest points of the underworld. The twelve Titans were grouped in pairs, or couples; they included Oceanus and Tethys, Hyperion and Theia, Coeus and Phoebe, Cronus and Rhea and four separate gods: Mnemosyne, Themis, Crius and Iapetus. The thirteenth Titan was Dione, who was a double of Theia.
It is said that Chronos was the most monstrous and cunning of the twelve, and when he was born to his mother Gaia, he formed an intense hatred of his father. Uranus sensed this, and imprisoned his son in the bowels of the Earth. Once there, Chronos enlisted the help of the Cyclopses and other creatures and escaped; then he castrated his father Uranus and took the beautiful Rhea for his bride. From this union, the new generation of gods was born, including Zeus.
The Titans played an important role in the creation myth of the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus, and while they themselves did not mean much in the religious arena past the Classical Age of Greece, the fact that they birthed the Mount Olympus deities made them an important part of Greek culture.

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Rendlesham Forest UFO Sightings

December 26th, 1980, the day after Christmas, and only a few days before the New Year. Quite a few service-people are still on guard at RAF Woodbridge, near Suffolk in the UK. However, their minds are concerned with coming parties or missing their families.
What they didn't expect, was for unidentified lights to appear West of their position, and descend into the forest. But this is what happened, at least 3 nights in a row, in Rendlesham Forest.
The Rendlesham Forest incident, as its known, is probably the most publicized UFO event to happen in Britain, and is compared with Roswell in terms of importance. On December 26th, 27th, and 28th strange lights were spotted outside of RAF Woodbridge by USAF Personnel, and were investigated. Local Police joined service people, though many came to the conclusion that the lights were from the nearby Oxford Ness Lighthouse.
The following two nights, similar sightings were made, and even confirmed by one Lt. Colonel Halt; the deputy base commander. Colonel Halt even went so far as to use a micro-cassette recorder to create audio of the investigation. Some have speculated that during the investigation, that video was made of the supposed objects, and is kept by the Air Force.
Over the course of the next few days, quite a bit of evidence emerged. Triangular impressions thought to be dents made by landing gear, were found. However, local police came to the conclusion that these same impressions could have been made by farm animals.
Overall, it is harder to tell what happened, and harder still to prove that Extraterrestrial Contact was made. However, the presence of multiple eye-witnesses, all of them being US Military Personnel, and one being an Active Duty Lt Colonel, is definitely cause to take the matter seriously.

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Giant Ice Falls From the Sky!

Throughout the centuries man has wondered about a mysterious phenomena that seems to have no answer, giant ice blocks falling from the sky. Many skeptics claim that there is no reason to wonder about these strange occurrences, there is a simple answer... They are falling off of airplanes flying overhead! Now mind you, I am not a close minded person, I would be happy to accept this explanation, but, I think I am going to need one of these skeptics explain to me where the airplane came from on August 13TH of 1849 that the 1/2 ton, 20 foot block of ice fell from in Scotland. Or the one in India in 1800 that was reported "as large as an elephant". I can go on and on, 15 feet long, 6 feet wide and 11 feet thick - England, 1888. One a yard wide in India - 1826! In 1802, a lump of ice fell from the sky on Hungary that had a volume of 18 cubic feet! I think that one would be more curious about the aircraft itself than the ice falls at this point since there was no such thing as an airplane at this time!
Ice falls have continued throughout the years up to modern times, with many reports in Spain in the last year. But the question still remains, where do these large chunks of ice come from?
There have been four standing answers to this question that I will address here and I will add an answer of my own.
Airplane ice
The favorite answer of the skeptic - perhaps some ice falls off of aircraft, but, the pieces would not be very large. Modern aircraft are equipped with wing heaters to prevent ice build up. Also, in many cases there were no aircraft in the area of the ice fall, and again, I may be going out on a limb here, but I don't believe that there were any aircraft around during the previously cited reports in the 1800's. You may also want to look at what a 1/2 to, 20 foot block of ice would do to the aircraft, one would have to assume that the ice fall would have been followed by the aircraft itself. An airplane would not be able to stay aloft with a chunk of ice this large attached to it.
Hail
The largest hailstones recorded have been about 5 inches in diameter with a maximum weight of about 2 pounds. You need sustained updraft winds of 90 mph or more to create a hailstone of this size. Weather can't be completely ruled out, but, the average ice fall usually consists of 1 or 2 chunks, not hail storm quantities, and most of them occur on nice cloudless days, not during inclement weather. Still, we don't know everything about this mysterious place we call earth, so it's a possibility. Oh, and one other problem here, the ice that is analyzed is usually not from cloud water!
Comets
Comets are composed of ice, dust, and rocks and it is possible that comets could enter the Earth's atmosphere and strike the Earth before exploding, as in Tunguska, or just simply melting. Many theories have been brought to the table to explain away this idea such as, there are not enough pieces to be a comet or particles from it's tail. Hmmmm, ok.
UFO's
Ummmmmm, yeah. This theory states that the ice is falling off UFO's entering our atmosphere, or perhaps that the UFO's are dropping them intentional as some sort of warning. Come on people, I am not saying it's not impossible, but do you really think that a race smart enough to achieve intergalactic travel would have a problem with ice build up when our own airplanes and space shuttles don't? And quite honestly, why would a alien civilization fly hundreds of light years to our planet just to throw ice cubes at us? What possible message would that be? Bored alien college students pulling a prank? And people wonder why the UFO and Paranormal community doesn't get taken seriously!
Alright, we have gone over the most common explanations short of random teleportation of ice from colder climates, which is also a theory that has been suggested. Now it's time to present my theory.
The Earth is always being hit by meteorites from Mars, how? Well Mars has been hit with rather large meteors and asteroids that have sent rocks and dust hurtling into outer space that eventually find their way to Earth. This is a known scientific fact, so, if this is or has happened on Mars, and the debris makes it to earth, then why isn't it possible that the same thing happens on Europa? Europa is a moon of Jupiter that is completely covered in ice, water ice. It has been struck many times by large asteroids and meteors throughout it's history and yes, the same thing would have happened, chunks of ice would have been hurtled into space and yes, they could very well make it back to the Earth, just like Martian meteors! Some of the ice has had strange compositions to it, some has been pure h2o, some has had interesting formations and the majority are not comprised of cloud water so why not Europa? Or icy asteroids? I believe that in most cases this theory holds water, or ice, so to speak. So in this state of thought, would it not be in NASA's best interest to take a little time to look at these icy missiles from the sky? Many of these ice falls have been accompanied by a flash of light and a loud boom, pretty consistent with a large meteor wouldn't you think?

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